It Is Not The People At The Top Who Keep Others Down

It Is The Common People Who Do It To Each Other

Photo by Stephan HK on Unsplash

One of the biggest lies people tell themselves is that all of their problems come from people at the top.

The rich.

The powerful.

The elites.

The billionaires.

The politicians.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Powerful people can absolutely make life harder for everyone else.

But if you’ve spent enough time around ordinary people, you’ll notice something uncomfortable.

Most people don’t need a billionaire to discourage them.

They have friends for that.

They don’t need a politician to tell them their dreams are stupid.

They have family members for that.

They don’t need a corporation to make them doubt themselves.

They have coworkers, neighbors, classmates, and acquaintances doing that for free.

When I look back on my own life, it wasn’t wealthy people who tried to keep me small.

It wasn’t CEOs.

It wasn’t celebrities.

It wasn’t people sitting in penthouses.

It was ordinary people.

People who lived paycheck to paycheck just like everyone else.

People who claimed they wanted the best for me.

People who became strangely uncomfortable whenever I talked about doing something different.

I’ve noticed that many people love the idea of success.

Just not when it’s someone they know.

When a stranger becomes successful, they call it inspiring.

When their friend becomes successful, they call it luck.

When a family member becomes successful, they call it arrogance.

When someone from their neighborhood succeeds, they suddenly start looking for flaws.

Human beings are funny that way.

Many people claim to support growth until growth starts making them uncomfortable.

What I’ve learned is that most dream killers don’t wear expensive suits.

They wear ordinary clothes.

They sit next to you at work.

They live down the street.

They share your last name.

They aren’t trying to destroy your future.

Most of the time they’re trying to protect their worldview.

Because if you can change your life, what excuse does that leave them?

If you can overcome your circumstances, what happens to all the reasons they’ve given for staying exactly where they are?

That question makes people uncomfortable.

Very uncomfortable.

It’s easier to convince themselves that your dream is impossible than to admit they abandoned their own years ago.

I’ve seen people mock entrepreneurs who haven’t made a dollar yet.

I’ve seen people laugh at writers with no audience.

I’ve seen people criticize artists before they’ve sold a single piece of work.

I’ve seen people attack anyone who dares to believe their future can be different from their present.

The irony is that these critics are rarely thriving themselves.

Misery seems to have a strange recruiting department.

It doesn’t just want company.

It wants loyalty.

The moment you start moving in a different direction, some people begin treating you like a traitor.

Not because you’ve harmed them.

Because you’ve challenged an unspoken agreement.

The agreement that everyone should remain exactly where they are.

The agreement that nobody should become too successful.

Too ambitious.

Too independent.

Too different.

The older I get, the less I worry about people at the top.

Most of them don’t even know I exist.

The people I pay attention to are the ones standing beside me.

Those are the people who can influence my thinking.

Those are the people who can either encourage growth or discourage it.

Those are the people who can either celebrate your victories or secretly resent them.

And unfortunately, many choose the second option.

The truth is that most people will never be stopped by billionaires.

They’ll be stopped by fear.

Doubt.

Social pressure.

Ridicule.

And those things are usually delivered by ordinary people living ordinary lives.

That’s why I’ve learned to be careful about whose opinions I take seriously.

Not everyone cheering for you actually wants you to win.

And not everyone warning you about failure is trying to protect you.

Sometimes they’re simply projecting the limits they’ve placed on themselves.

The people at the top might create obstacles.

But the people around you often become the walls.

And if you’re not careful, you’ll spend your entire life listening to people who gave up on theirs.